Dalton Philips wins 2015 CEO sack race: Will Marc Bolland be next across the line? January 13, 2015 So, Dalton Philips was the winner of the 2015 sack race in the end, beating off strong competition from rival-favourite Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands and bagging evens odds for anyone who backed him at Ladbrokes. He said an emotional goodbye to hacks on the results call yesterday morning, causing a few cringes, as both Philips [...]
Mark Carney says deflation is possible and wouldn’t be a problem, refuses to be tied to date for interest rate hike January 13, 2015 Mark Carney has tonight refused to rule out the UK entering deflation after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed the Consumer Price Index slowed to just 0.5 per cent in December. Speaking to ITV, the governor of the Bank of England said that deflation was possible “in a given month on a year-on-year [...]
Mark Carney set to write inflation letter next month January 12, 2015 INFLATION is expected to have dropped too far below the Bank of England’s target, prompting an embarrassing letter from Mark Carney to George Osborne to explain what went wrong. But instead of sending the letter the moment the inflation data is published – at 9.30am this morning – the governor of the Bank will now [...]
General Election 2015: David Cameron plays it safe to fight Ukip and Labour January 12, 2015 David Cameron should be riding high, and he knows it. Such a strong economic turnaround compared with the position in 2010 would traditionally mean he had it in the bag. But with just 113 days to go until the general election he is still neck and neck with Labour. The Prime Minister cannot even take [...]
Thomas Piketty: Anti-austerity parties are good for Europe January 12, 2015 Economist Thomas Piketty's latest argument that the increased popularity of anti-austerity parties is actually "good news for Europe" will no-doubt rile many. He took the world by storm last year with the publication of Capital in the 21st Century which argued for a global, progressive tax of capital to combat increasing equality. It's attracted attention (and criticism) [...]
George Osborne warned oil and gas firms cannot afford North Sea tax regime January 11, 2015 The chancellor must drop taxes on North Sea oil and gas firms as quickly as he raised them, Oil & Gas UK said yesterday. Following the Autumn Statement in December, the Treasury said it would introduce a single basin-wide investment allowance, designed to “reward investment and simplify the tax regime”, as part of a package [...]
Angela Merkel and Syriza are about to open Pandora’s box: Watch out, Eurozone January 11, 2015 It is not often that I feel sorry for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Having lived in her country since 2006, for me she is the most overrated of modern politicians, having accomplished almost nothing in terms of substantive policy achievements, while somehow being lionised for her lack of ambition. She is the archetype of this [...]
General election 2015 TV debates: David Cameron “running scared” says Ed Miliband January 11, 2015 David Cameron is “running scared” of live TV debates, according to Ed Miliband. Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, the Labour leader claimed the Prime Minister was acting in a “pretty disreputable” manner regarding the debates, after Cameron claimed he would not take part unless the Green Party was also represented. According to the Guardian, [...]
SpaceX rocket landing: Why did Elon Musk’s mission go wrong? January 10, 2015 Today, the American firm SpaceX launched a rocket into space. After releasing its cargo up in the direction of the International Space Station (ISS), the rocket started to change direction and headed back down to Earth. The plan was to eventually land the Falcon 9 rocket on a launch pad just off the coast [...]
Eurozone: ECB said to have discussed €500bn quantitative easing programme January 9, 2015 European Central Bank (ECB) officials are said to have discussed a €500bn quantitative easing programme, which many hope will rescue the embattled Eurozone from its economic quagmire. If the programme is launched, it will involve the central bank buying up government debt rated BBB- or higher. Purchasing only investment-grade debt minimises the bank's exposure to [...]